


A Triple Drive of Gifts

by orphan_account



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 20:48:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13151766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Hiroki brings Taiyou some stuff one Christmas, not quite realizing his own intent.





	A Triple Drive of Gifts

Adjusting the collar of his Star Gate tie, Hiroki took a deep breath. Trying to keep his hand steady, he reached to press the doorbell, holding it in a bit too long as the nerves took over for a split second.

He could hear someone call out to him seconds before the door opened, revealing one Taiyou Asukawa. “Oh, it’s just you, Hiroki. I was worried Chrono or Kazuma had done something… rash.” He opened the door. “Why don’t you come in? It’s cold outside, you know, and you’re not even wearing a jacket.”

“The freezing winds of evil are no match for my burning-hot sense of justice! It’s because of you that I’ve found that sense, so I thank you as I enter!” Hiroki exclaimed proudly before stepping into the Asukawa family apartment, puffing out his chest as he thunked his right fist against it a few times.

Taiyou smiled softly. “I’ve noticed, Hiroki. It’s still nice of you to come over. My dad works a lot of hours before Christmas, and my mom’s job ends up being full-time instead of part-time, with all the people ordering from the bakery. It can get a bit… lonely.”

“I’d never let you experience the injustice of loneliness, Taiyou! You’re my Justice Partner, and Justice Partners work together!” Hiroki held up a convenience store bag that was extremely wrinkled, giving Taiyou an accidentally flirty grin.

“I see. Well, why don’t we work on our cardfighting skills soon for the next Under 20? It’d be nice to be able to make a team with you, and Chrono and Kazuma are both formidable opponents.”

Hiroki grinned, unable to stop himself from moving his hands to Taiyou’s shoulders as the contents in the bag hit Taiyou in the arm. He noticed that the contents of the bag were light, soft, and definitely didn’t leave a mark.

_Thank you, Hiroki,_ he thought.

Three cardfights later, Taiyou had the biggest grin on his face Hiroki had seen in a while. He was upset about having to G Assist twice, but in the other game Taiyou had beaten him with sheer skill. “Nice fights,” Hiroki told him, and surpisingly enough, he had meant it. “It’s, uh, not sucky to lose to you. Every time I had to challenge Ace or Enishi, it was super annoying, and Shouma would just make you want to throw coffee in his-”

“Hiroki,” Taiyou said, letting his tone tell him to stop.

“Oh, alright. It’s not any less true, though.” Crossing his arms, Hiroki looked to the- the bag! He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten the bag! “One second!” He scrambled for it, quickly digging out a wrapped box, a golden pouch, and a gift bag. Only the gift bag was bigger than Taiyou’s super old FICA, and barely at that. He wondered what could be in it. “I, uh, I had to get my Justice Partner some thank you gifts for his good work over the year,” Hiroki admitted, blushing. “I should get them to you before your parental units make their way to this abode.”

Taiyou bit his lip for a moment. “It’s really sweet of you to do this, Hiroki. I’ve also got stuff for you, but it isn’t wrapped.”

“Don’t worry about it! You can give it to me as-is after you’ve opened your stuff! Go on, it’s time for a triple drive of gifts of justice!” Hiroki could feel the heat rising to his cheeks as he tugged on his tie, loosening it. He wondered why he felt so warm all of a sudden.

Taiyou failed to stop himself from smirking. “I’ll open… which one do I open first?”

Hiroki fumbled around with the gifts for a moment before plopping the pouch into Taiyou’s hand. “I think you’ll really enjoy this one!”

Undoing the drawstrings, he quickly pulled out a keychain with the United Sanctuary logo on it. He’d seen it on clearance recently at the Dragon Empire branch, and had nearly bought it himself. Taiyou thanked his lucky stars he hadn’t. “I could use one of these!”

Hiroki’s face lit up. “Well, you should have some tools for helping you with justice, too! Here, take this!”

After carefully sliding his thumb under the tape, Taiyou got the top portion of the wrapping around the box to open, noticing it was yet again something Vanguard related. He slid his thumb along the side tape, ripping the paper slightly before getting the outer paper loose enough he could pull out the box without ripping it. Another ten seconds and he saw the words LICENSE TO CRITSACK written across a fake license. Hiroki had even used Taiyou’s yearbook photo, which was less unflattering than it had been in other years. Taiyou quickly pulled out his old wallet, sliding in the card where he would put a driver’s license when he was old enough.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be using this a lot at our next tournament. It’ll be nice to know I’m not breaking any laws,” he teased, giving Hiroki a wink. Hiroki could feel the heat that had just left his cheeks coming back.

“Uh…” he reached for the final gift, trying to calm his breathing as he held out the final of his presents. “I hope you like this one… more than the others. I can’t really tell why, but for some reason, this gift feels like the most justice-y of them.”

Taiyou opened this one a bit more slowly, watching Hiroki half the time. His face was clearly flushed, and he was staring at the gift bag intently, as if he could burn through the wrapping just by focusing on it strongly enough. Whatever Taiyou was about to pull out of the bag, it was something important, and Hiroki was sending him a message he’d admitted he didn’t fully understand.

About thirty seconds later, Taiyou found himself staring at what was clearly a rather expensive half of a legion necklace. “Hiroki… I don’t know what to say.” Taiyou could feel tears building in his eyes. “This is just… so beautiful.”

“It’s nothing compared to what you’ve taught me, Taiyou,” Hiroki told him. Taiyou turned to face Hiroki, watching as Hiroki reached to wipe the lone tear that had made its way down Taiyou’s cheek with his sleeve. “I mean it. You… mean something to me. Something I can’t explain. I care about you in a way I haven’t cared about anyone in… well, at least in a very long time, and I don’t want to talk about it like I usually do. It makes me feel… like things are right, rather than my having to make them right like when I’m alone or around only other people. And I don’t like when weird jerks playing Blue Wave or whatever threaten that.”

“Hiroki… are you confessing to me?”

Hiroki looked at the necklace in Taiyou’s hand. “I… don’t know. Can I think about it?”

“Sure. I got you two tickets to the Cosmic Hero show, so how about we go to that sometime, and you can decide if it’s as friends or boyfriends?”

Hiroki nodded slowly. “I… care about you either way. Thanks. Should I, uh, leave?”

“If you want. My mom won’t be back for a while, and with what we talked about…”

Hiroki blushed. “I definitely need to go!”

Taiyou looked down at his newest necklace. “Yeah, stay safe on your way home.”

The entire walk home, Hiroki found himself humming one of Taiyou’s favorite songs.


End file.
